Thursday, October 21, 2010

The tournament will be a Charity event to benefit the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots organization. I've actually been "threatening" to do just this for like the last 4 or 5 years. But I've finally pulled the trigger and followed through on my past threats.

So if you are in the central North Carolina area (or a glutton for a good road trip), then ready your force, pick up some toys for your entry fee, and head on over to All Fun & Games on December 4!

Here's the skinny...

TOYS FOR TOTS WARHAMMER 40,000 CHARITY TOURNAMENT

Saturday, December 4, 2010 at All Fun & Games. Apex, NC

Registration begins at 10:15 a.m.

Entry fee is "new in package" toy donation(s) to be given to Toys for Tots Foundation (benefiting the Raleigh Chapter http://raleigh-nc.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/default.asp). "Dig Deep" and give as much as you can - many children in the area wouldn't get a holiday gift if it wasn't for the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program!**SPECIAL OFFER FROM ALL FUN & GAMES: All Fun & Games will provide a 15% discount on any games, puzzles, etc. purchased for donation; there will also be a 10% discount for purchases for yourself. Just inform the store staff at checkout which items you are donating to receive the special discount on them.

Army lists are 1750 points

3 Rounds

2:15 time allotted per round

Random pairings in Round 1; Swiss-style pairings in Rounds 2 and 3

Nova Open / BFS style missions (i.e., missions will have primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives with the Primary being means of determining winner and Secondary and Tertiary objectives acting as "tie breakers" if need be)

Friday, October 8, 2010

Well, this unit isn't quite 100% complete, but I can't wait any longer to post up some pictures of BONA FIDE PROGRESS!!! Bases need a little work. Can't decide if the ones with the models standing on larger rocks should have black/gray rocks or darker brown rocks. Also plan to paint the face of the base a frostbite skin color (my first P3 paint product).

This squad consists of Arjac (or simple TH/SS if I can't "afford" Arjac's hefty price tag in terms of game points), a 2nd TH/SS model, 2 Twin Wolf Claw members, and a Heavy Flamer with Chainfist.

Above, we see "Arjac" in a slightly top-down shot. Arjac was completely built out of Wolf Guard bits. On this model's base, I need to do a little "white wash" of the crevices to tone down the blue, but the effect I'm going for is cracked ice/tundra/glacier. I also am going to use a few fine tip pens to do some freehand symbology and other work on his banner.

One of my prouder moments in painting this squad was Arjac's Storm Shield. For this, I dry brushed a medium gray over the whole central part, then dry brushed a very light gray over the wolf skull and crossbones, followed by a light dry brush of ivory over that. The trim was picked out in red foundation paint, and the recessed portion around that was washed with badab black wash. Finished it off by painting the very edge with a metallic green (emerald) color.

Here we see my two Twin Wolf Claw troopers. The one in the foreground is an Assault on Black Reach snap-together terminator with Wolf Guard wolf claws and shoulder pads. Plus a Wolf Guard "gubbin" on top.

The Wolf Claw trooper in the background, although not as easy to see do to the focus (or lack thereof), is one of the Space Hulk terminators.

Like Arjac, both of these guys need the blue in the base's crevices to be toned down with a white wash. The one in the foreground also needs me to decide how I'm going to do large rocks on the bases.

Finally, we have the Heavy Flamer - Chainfist trooper. This was another one built entirely out of Wolf Guard bits. You can't really tell in this picture, but I did a devlan mud wash on the front 2/3rds of his flamer's muzzle, to give it a "used" look. He also suffers from the same base issues as the others - white wash the crevices, frostbite the face of the base, and figure out what to do with larger rocks.

So there you have it. Real progress. One squad, in about one week. Its not as assembly line as I usually paint, but in the end, I was able to stick with my "average" of one figure per evening rate of production. Here's hoping I can keep it up for a bit!

Monday, October 4, 2010

The Wolf stood in front of Logan; however, the voice he heard came from all around him as well as from within him. The Wolf did not move. Only the two cloud jets issuing from its nostrils in the frozen wasteland told Logan that it was not a statue. Somehow, though, Logan knew the voice he heard was that of the Wolf's.

The Time Is Neigh...

A fierce cyclone arose, and swirled around Logan, carrying him into the Heavens. The cyclone sped him through time and space until it instantly ceased to exist, leaving Logan high above a green-and-red scabrous looking planet.

Seek Now... The Time Is Neigh...

Logan Grimnar awoke with a start, his body sweating and his breath heaving. Logan knew the import of the dream instantly, though.

It was time to begin another Great Hunt. He knew not where this planet he gazed upon lie, but knew that it was this Hunt's final destination...

My Space Wolves Terminator project is based around the above idea - that of one of the Great Hunts for the Chapter's lost Primarch, Leman Russ. The force I am building represents Logan Grimnar taking a group of the finest warriors of The Fang and heading out on this journey - Adventure, if you will.

For this project/army, I hope to visually portray some of this backstory in the models themselves.

One way was by using a wild mix of miniatures including Wolf Guard, Assault on Black Reach, and Space Hulk Terminator models. Each Space Wolf in general is individual and adorns themselves with various totems and items, so I wanted these "Best Of" Space Wolves to be no different. The mix I have achieved visually shows that some of these warriors are relatively new to the Wolf Guard while others are ornate veterans. After all, as described in the codex, there is no basis for being a Wolf Guard, other than being chosen by one's Wolf Lord. Wolf Guard members can run the gamut between relatively new to the Grey Hunters or grizzled veterans of decades or centuries of warfare.

Another idea I had about this particular Great Hunt is that Logan would draw Wolf Guard from all the various Great Companies. However, they would all be unified in their quest. Therefore, rather than each one bearing his own Great Company's symbol and color (on the right shoulder pad for wolf guard in terminator armor), they all "ritualistically" re-paint their right shoulder pads black, thus unifying themselves as Brothers on the Great Hunt.

Finally, I'm sure that some of the Great Hunts have included many, most, or even "all" of the Space Wolves, but *this* hunt is more of a small and elite cadre of warriors setting out on the quest. Logan hand-picks a small number of Terminator squads, each with a means of transportation (in this case, the five packs have 2 Land Raiders and 3 Drop Pods), and in addition, Logan draws in some "support" elements in the form of 3 Dreadnoughts, a Thunderhawk, and his close aides Njal Stormcaller and Arjac Rockfist.